If the dog is buried in a pet cemetery, check with the cemetery. Some of them have very specific rules regarding what type of tombstones are permitted so you want to be sure you are within their boundaries or you will waste a lot of money.
If the dog is buried in your yard, then I would advise against it. First of all, many municipalities do not allow burials on private property, even of animals, so you may have buried your dog illegally.
By putting up a tombstone you are announcing that you broke the law.
Also, you will find it very difficult to resell your home. Prospective owners will be turned off by the sight of your dog’s tombstone and you will end up taking it up so you can sell the house.
Additionally you could end up exhuming the dog because once you put the tombstone in, then EVERYONE who ever set foot in your yard will know a dog is buried there.
Wouldn’t that be awful?
I know that odds are when most people buy an older home there is probably a whole menagerie buried in the backyard by a myriad of previous owners.
The difference is in the knowing. I don’t know what my predecessors buried in my yard and I don’t want to know.
If someone looked at your property they would KNOW there was a dead dog in it and exactly where the dead dog is and it would freak them out.
You loved your dog and your dog loved you. You do not need a stone with words carved on it to prove that.
Your dog honestly doesn’t mind; I’m sure he knows you loved him and miss him and he can’t read, anyway.
If you really, really feel that you need to have some kind of memorial to him, I suggest a garden stone. You can get them with a variety of sayings so you can pick out one that has meaning to you, and they are less likely to scare the bejeebers out of prospective buyers.
Hope I have been helpful. Sorry for your loss; we’ve all been there and it sucks.